Day 17 𖦹 GARDEN

Day 17! Ziggy is back serving tea today. Sounds include Andrew riffing, Kameliia catching up on her punchcard, Rili on the electric violin, and the fruits that were planted years ago. 

Plus, a surprise at the end... until tomorrow! 

Transcript

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SPEAKER_05 0:00

Day 17.

SPEAKER_04 0:05

Free tea.

SPEAKER_02 0:13

Thirty days of free tea in Mary Hernandez Park.

SPEAKER_05 0:18

Why do you look so surprised? Hello, hello. Tell me how you're feeling today.

SPEAKER_02 0:26

I'm uh enjoying the weather. And yeah, my morning walk today. I was crying a little just at the marvel of it all. I mean look at this.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

When people have a space that they can come and feel safe and share things, like that letting down of the guard, it's so rare to find in the city.

SPEAKER_03 0:57

I feel like I've done probably uh 1500 laps around this park, but I feel like I don't really interact with people that much, but you just kind of like do it. But I feel like this, I'm like, I've been here every day, just chatting it up. I'm like, I like to have a spot to just uh chat with people. Like it's like it's good nice how you talk about letting your guard down. I'm like, oh yeah, I'll come here and just just riff a little bit. I feel comfortable riffing, which is great. We love it.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

I've already seen so many people that came on my first day of the takeover, and it's like we haven't seen each other since then, but we still have this connection just because of this shared experience of the tea stand.

SPEAKER_05 1:32

However, David came. So now count the punch card or not. Yeah, I think that's a good one.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

Yes. We just need a written statement from David.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

To be connecting over something that is free, like in this day and age, it is in my opinion, like one of the most revolutionary things you can do is to be in that that state of like you're you're taking yourself out of the typical, you know, capitalistic grinding model that we all are a part of, and putting yourself into this like very imaginative state of what the world can look like if we don't center money and if we don't, if we are instead centering relationships and centering care.

SPEAKER_02 2:22

Okay, we'll see you out.

SPEAKER_05 2:25

Oh, great, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

Oftentimes it is like a lot of younger people coming and sitting on the mat, and not that it creates exclusivity, but it does kind of it's important to bring other people into that conversation of like we're serving free tea for every person, not just the young people that are transplants in Brooklyn. Like, we want it to be for Tree, who has been in Maria Hernandez forever. Like it feels like this is his this this is his realm. It's like he's been stewarding the park of Maria Hernandez.

SPEAKER_00 2:55

I feel like without my little speaker, I I lend it to a friend, a person. No, I lend it to a person that I met in the parking playing down. I'll say, here, take the speaker, take it home, do whatever you want. I don't care. Let's less one speaker I gotta carry. She's like, What to me? I said, I got more. Now I got the big one inside the store. I'm about to when I charge it, if you need it, I'll bring it over here fully charged, and y'all can play whatever music y'all want. Come on, y'all family. I just walked around. I said, Let me come over here and see people sitting on the bed.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

People want to care for their neighbors. Like people want to have those relationships and they they want to be with others who care for one another. Oh, I felt a raindrop. Sorry. No, no. But it's like that's something that you know, so even if you start something and you can't continue to see it or steward it yourself, like other people want to take charge of that. And I feel that way with Miles too, doing the tea stand, it's like it is not just a him effort, it's it's everybody's tending tending to the garden of the tea stand.

SPEAKER_02 4:00

We planted uh all of these seeds by starting this project. It felt for a while like any one misstep would be catastrophic. And now it's like there's a hundred people in the volunteer group chat, and there's a hundred plus people making monthly donations to this project, and there's hundreds of people who have donated tea. The garden is at a place where, yeah, I can take a leave for a bit and I know that it'll still be tended to.

SPEAKER_05 4:47

Why do you think that garden is so healthy?

SPEAKER_02 4:54

Well, it all started from love.

SPEAKER_01 5:04

Having these other people that are beacons of of love make me want to be a better person, and they make me want to do more to be a beacon of love for other people. I I see the change. I see the change in myself, I see it in Miles, I see it in you. Like I see it in everybody, and I want to follow that. Like love is a never-ending well. Like, there's no limit to what it is to be, to give love. In my community garden, when I'm given tomatoes by Miss Joy, and I then go home and I cook with those tomatoes for my roommate, and then my roommate goes and serves tea for one of his friends, like that is all, we are all taking part in that gift economy, and it all just kind of it trinkles and it grows and it it morphs itself around our relationships and around our actions. Like that's the minus fine. I've been given so much by other people, and I then feel this like great responsibility to be able to do that for others.

SPEAKER_05 6:35

So I've seen this around.

SPEAKER_01 6:37

I just think about my friends, and like that they've they've given me so much understanding and love that I feel like I can do anything in the world. See we're all in relationship with one another in our environment, and if you give a gift to one person and they give a gift to another person, like it's all coming back to you and that gift that you have given and you have received. Like it almost sounds like you're being selfish when you're saying, like, oh, I want this thing, but to want something is is a big indicator that you care. It's behind ya.

SPEAKER_05 7:16

Ready?

SPEAKER_01 7:18

And it's like, I don't know, I feel that way with kids that they so are just like, I want to go play on the playground, like they're so in tune with what they want. Like, I want ice cream over time. I think you're just kind of taught to suppress those things because they're quote unquote unrealistic. I feel like if you if you don't give yourself the space to dream, then Zee! How is anything supposed to happen?

SPEAKER_05 7:48

You got it!

unknown 7:49

I got it!

SPEAKER_05 7:50

Yeah, girl. Sure.

unknown 7:55

Okay, we hope we always go.

SPEAKER_01 7:59

Like you have to you have to feel like there is a greater future out there and that change is possible in order for it to happen. Like, if you can't even imagine a world in which there's free tea and there's no catch, like, then it's not gonna happen. You like you have to imagine those things to see them in real life.

SPEAKER_05 8:22

That's all the fun!

SPEAKER_01 8:23

The final button. The final button. 601. 60101 quick cloud! I think being a steward of something is so like that's what I want to do in my life. Like, I want to be able to to care so deeply for something that impacts other people. I feel like being on the stewarding end of things and like facilitating free tea for people or facilitating a space to for people to talk is like the best feeling in the world. Like, I feel like I was put on earth to talk to people and and to have people talk to people. Like I I I just love it. Makes me feel so euphoric.

unknown 9:07

Hi.

SPEAKER_01 9:08

Okay, good. Fly fly fly away.

SPEAKER_04 9:12

Get it, get it, get it. Fly. Did we get it? Yeah. Get it, get it, you get it. Now now quick, quick, quick, quick, oh quick.

unknown 9:23

Okay, quick.

SPEAKER_05 9:43

Oh, I got it, I got it, I got it, quick, quick, quick. Okay, come on, little man. Okay, Miles. Tell me about tomorrow.

SPEAKER_02 9:57

Oh my god, it's your day. It's my day. Oh God. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 10:03

I'm serving the tea, everyone.

SPEAKER_02 10:05

Oh god, and I'm wearing the headphones.

SPEAKER_03 10:09

Miles and I are switching roles.

SPEAKER_02 10:11

Holy cow.

SPEAKER_03 10:12

Any tips for me?

SPEAKER_02 10:14

Get ready to answer a lot of questions.